FPGOutlaw Reviews: Pups Save a Train
This is FPGOutlaw's official review of "Pups Save a Train". Review Title Card: None, at least for the recording I have on my DVR. There is one with Chase in his standard pose with a default background. Analysis: I can say that after watching all the other episodes, I’m surprised there’s no title card for some of the airings. With the title card that there is, nothing special. Scene 1: Episode starts with Chase telling Precious’ Owner (She has no official name), and a little boy to stand back from the sandbox. Rubble looks to be adding more sand. The little kids request a sandcastle, which Rubble replies that he isn’t really good at making them. He then says he’ll try something else, which he immediately makes his rig in the sand. The kids argue about “who’s going to be Rubble”. Chase says that Rubble’s sand-bulldozer is amazing. “What can I say, I am a construction pup!” Nice line by Rubble there to end the scene. Analysis: **1/4, It is better than the average scene (The overall average is **). The introduction of Alex didn’t make the character so annoying yet, but seeing Precious’ owner come back after the great episode she had in the last one was cool. Rubble had a good line (which he doesn’t have too often), so that helps the scene as well. Scene 2: A train is seen going on the rails. Katie and Cali are on the train. Cali suggests that she’s hungry, which then she reaches into a bag that is next to Katie. Katie says those treats were made for the PAW Patrol (by her grandmother whom we have no other traces about). Cali’s stomach growls, and Katie says that she has a big appetite. The whole train starts to shake, and Katie things that it’s Cali stomach. The Train is then seen to be stopping really fast, as rocks have covered in front of the train! As the train comes to a stop, Katie asked what happened, and the train engineer assessed the situation. The engineer says they are stuck until they can find someone to clear it. Que Katie calling Ryder. Ryder is seen playing some sort of game on his Pup-Pad, when Katie calls him. Katie tells him what happened, and Ryder looks at the rock slide through his periscope. He tells Katie that they are on their way to help. Analysis: **1/2, About 99% of the time, I find it really hard to rate these scenes, due to some of them just being build for the later parts of the episode. This scene never dragged, and Katie played well in her role. This scene could have used a little more storytelling, but I’m not gonna complain too much about it overall. Scene 3: As Ryder calls the pups, Skye, Rocky, Zuma, and Marshall are seen playing Soccer. Rocky is playing goalie, Marshall is on defense, and Zuma and Skye are running the ball down the field. As they all acknowledge that Ryder’s calling, Skye and Zuma kick the ball right into Marshall, and the 3 of them crash into Rocky, making all 4 of them go into the goal. “That should not count as a goal.” I love Rocky right there, such great delivery. All the pups race to see “who can be first”. Analysis: ***, It is a little awkward for them to break up the scene where the pups get called to the Lookout. Especially with the scene to come, It should have all been put together. Anyways, It was cool to see the pups playing soccer. It shows that they don’t just sit around on their free time, they actually exercise, which it good for the writers to have them do to be role-models for children. Gotta love Rocky, one of my easily-favored quotes of the first season was just delivered by him. Scene 4: All the pups, who are now joined by Rubble and Chase, are racing into the Lookout. Marshall is the first one into the Elevator, and all the pups race into the elevator and start a dog-pile. Analysis: 1/2*, Could have used a little more creative thinking than that. Just to note, when they reach the top, as Marshall starts to walk out of the Elevator, he gets trampled by the other pups so he wouldn’t be first to get out. It reminded me of my Black Friday Shopping at Wal-Mart a couple of months ago. Lookout: Rocky and Rubble are called. Rubble is needed to scoop the rocks up with his digger, and Rocky is needed to help store rocks in his truck. Scene 5: The Train Engineer looks to be worried about the rockslide. Katie gets happy as Ryder and the pups show up. Cali jumps out of Katie’s arms and goes on top of the train, to stalk a seagull who has food. Ryder assures that things will be ok, as he tells Rubble to start getting the rocks off the bridge. Ryder goes down to the support beams of the bridge to see if there’s any damage. Cali continues to stalk the seagull who is eating chips. As her stomach growls, she is forced to stop her stalking. As the seagull starts to fly away, Cali grabs onto the bag, which causes the bag to fall into the river. Ryder informs Rocky that the trestle is cracked and won’t hold a train for much longer. Ryder asks Rocky to bring down a log they can use as a support beam, but he can’t due to the hill being too steep for his truck. Ryder then calls Chase, and tells him that they need him and his police truck. Analysis: ***1/2, I love this scene. It was great that we got to follow Cali and the pups/Ryder without scene changes at all. The Cali segments were funny, and the trestle bridge cracking really adds suspense to the episode. Scene 6: Cali is seen laying on top of the train, when she notices the seagull coming back with a piece of bread. She starts to, yet again, stalk the seagull. Meanwhile, Chase arrives at the scene with his truck. He asks what Ryder needs, and Ryder says they need his winch to lower the log down the hill, which works out well. Ryder then puts the beam up to keep the cracked trestle supported. As Cali is right behind the seagull, she starts to move in, but she is spotted, and the seagull flies away, leaving the bread on the train. Ryder says the support beam is perfect, and will hold the train up until they can clear the rocks. Rubble cleared all the rocks, and Ryder calls Katie and tells her to tell the Engineer that they are all set to move. Katie says she’s worried about Cali. As Cali is about to feast on the bread, the seagull comes back and swipes it away. The train then starts to move, and Cali is rolled until she falls, barely holding onto the train in between two cars! The pups and Ryder hear Cali screaming. Chase starts to run up the moving train, to get Cali. There was a great action scene there with Chase running up the train. He finds Cali barely holding onto the train, and helps her up. Once he saves Cali, she hugs him, and Chase sneezes as he says “Oh Cali, it was nothing.” Cali returns to Katie, and Chase gets off the train. As Katie thanks Chase for saving Cali, he gives a great line “All in a police pup’s day!” Ryder, Rubble and Rocky are all happy as they did their job to end the scene. Analysis: ****1/4, I absolutely love this scene. A couple of great lines were given, and the action slow-mo scene with Chase was great. These scenes with Cali and the seagull were great to be filler in-between the PAW Patrol’s scenes. Cali almost falling off the train was done great. Not a perfect scene, but it was pretty close. Scene 7: All the pups are sitting in the yard, as Katie thanks them. Katie shows the treats that she had earlier on the train, and gives one to each pup. Due to his kindness, Chase gives half of his to Cali. As Cali is rubbing against him, Chase sneezes, causing all the pups to fall over due to the force. As all the pups play in the yard, Chase is playing with a soccer ball. The seagull returns, now with a slice of pizza. Cali starts to run up the slide, as that’s where the seagull is. Chase then kicks the ball up the slide, causing himself, Cali, and the ball to fall and crash. As the episode comes to a close, the seagull throws the pizza at Cali, and it lands on her head, as Chase is laughing. Analysis: ***, For some reason, I love the laugh Chase does at the end. I don’t really know why, but it’s great. It was cool for the seagull to come back for the end of the episode. When Chase sneezed and knocked over the rest of the pups, I found that funny. That was a good choice for the episode’s end. Final Analysis: I'll give it a 6.5 out of 10 That puts it right above the first episode, where it belongs. This episode had some good scenes, no true character development (But that's OK), and some good lines. Those are the things I look for. Chase delivered some nice lines, and Cali got a big role in this episode with some funny segments with the seagull. Top 3 Stars of the Episode 1. Chase - Had a great moment with him jumping on the train, and gave some good lines. 2. Katie - Was in this episode more than most of the main characters. 3. Cali - Played a big part in the episode being in the sub-plot and having some filler segments. Stats Season 1 High: Pups Save a Train (6.5) Season 1 Low: Pups and the Kitty-Tastrophe (5) Season 1 Average: 5.75 First Responders List 1st Place (Tie): Rubble (1) 1st Place (Tie): Rocky (1) 1st Place (Tie): Zuma (1) 1st Place (Tie): Skye (1) 2nd Place (Tie): Marshall (0) 2nd Place (Tie): Chase (0) Category:FPGOutlaw Category:FPGOutlaw's Reviews Category:FPG Studios Category:Episode